Railway truck



Aug. 19, 1941'. A, WALLA 2.253,407

RAILWAY TRUCK Filed Oct. 24, 1939 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENTOR WHLLHC! ATTORNE Aug. 19, 1941.

A; WALLACE RAILWAY TRUCK Filed 001;. 24, 1939 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR E M, i N w up n N min L A H.

Patented Aug. 19, 1941 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE 2,253,407 I RAILWAY TRUCK Allen Wallace, Moorestown, N. J. v 7 Application October 24, 1939, Serial No. 300,909

1 Claim.

This invention relates generally to railway trucks especially four-wheel electric motor trucks for electric or oil-electric locomotives.

One object of the invention is to provide a truck which is simpl in design and construction, composed of a comparatively few sturdy parts, and which can be produced at a relatively low cost, as compared with other trucks intended for similar service. These features are com bined with satisfactory riding qualities and with an arrangement of spring support which will be flexible and which, at the same time, will eliminate serious vertical vibrations.

Other objects and advantages will be more apparent to those skilled in the art from the following description of the accompanying drawings in which:

Fig. 1 is a plan view of my improved truck with a portion cut away to show one of the pedestals in section;

Fig. 2 is a side view, partly in section; and

Fig. 3 is a transverse section taken on the line 3-3 of Fig. 1.

The truck is carried on wheel and axle assemblies I, l, the axles having outside journals on which are mounted boxes 2, 2 of usual construction. The truck frame is of cast steel and is preferably made in four sections; the two side frames or wheel pieces 3, 3 and the end frames 4, 4 which are Welded together at the points 5,

thus constituting a single structure. The end frames which serve as cross-ties can be made in any one of various ways.

Each side frame or wheel piece has two transversely spaced vertical walls; an outer wall 6 and an inner wall I which are sufficiently far apart to allow supporting springs to be placed between them in a manner to be described, These walls are arched at their ends to pass over the axles and journal boxes, thereby providing pedestal structures 8, 8, Fig. 2; while the central portion of the Wheel pieces is depressed asshown at 9. Pedestal ways H] are formed in the inverted U- shaped pedestal structures to vertically guide the journal boxes. below the boxes by usual binders H which are of usual construction.

On top of each box is placed a spring seat or support 12 and on each seat is mounted a pair 4 of coiled springs 13. The inner and outer walls 6 and I of the wheel pieces are united, preferably integrally, by a horizontal rib or web I t which bears on the tops of the coiled springs. With this arrangement the truck frame is spring supported above each box.

The pedestals are tied together A bolster l5 of my improvedtruck is a onepiece steel casting having a preferably integral center plate It although, if desired, it may be cast separate. As shown in Fig. 3, this bolster has a deep section at the center in order to provide ample strength and also room for the attachment of amotor support 11 which is of usual construction, and constitutes no feature of my invention. The motors I8, l8 are shownin outline in Fig. 1.

Outside of the wheels the bolster extends outwardly over the inner depressed walls of the Wheel pieces and has substantially longitudinally straight arms 20, 20 extending oppositely directly into the space between the inner and outer walls 6 and l of the arched pedestal structures 8, 8 thereby laterally overlapping the same. The arms 20, 2a are connected to the arched pedestal structures preferably in both longitudinal and lateral directions. To this end the walls 6 and l, as shown in Figs. 1 and 2, are integrally united by vertical transverse webs or ribs 2| against which the end surfaces 2| of bolster arms 20, 20 abut with a slight amount of clearance, so that the locomotive propelling thrust developed by the motors can be transferred from the frame to the bolster and thence through the center pin to the chassis of the locomotive. Transverse or lateral movement of the bolster with reference to the frame is prevented by a pair of oppositely acting bearing surfaces 22, 22 located on the bolster arms adjacent the ends thereof, these surfaces acting against complementary surfaces on the inner walls 1 of the vertical legs of the pedestal structures. At each bearing point of said surface case-hardened steel plates are welded to the frame and bolster to take the wear. The points of the bolster which bear against the frame are longitudinally spaced apart a maximum distance consistent with complete simplicity of parts and minimum height and length of the truck bolster. This is accomplished by reason that long bolster arms 20, 20 can be utilized by effectively embodying the pedestal structure in a highly cooperative and intimate manner. The pedestal structures and bolster arms are arranged so that the arms extend in between the vertical walls of the pedestal structures. In this manner the pedestal structures effectively perform dual functions. This is an important feature of my design as it produces a very large moment arm which aids materially in holding the truck and bolster square upon occurrence of large torsional and transverse forces. A further advantage is that the bolster arms 20, 20 extend horizontally straight from the bolster proper thereby minimizing any Vertical moment arm which might tend to twist the arms or the bolster about a horizontal axis upon occurrence of a side thrust.

The bolster is supported on both plate and coil springs. On each side is a half-elliptic spring 23 which is seated in hangers 24, these in turn being hung from pins 25 which pass through the inner and outer walls of the wheel pieces. The bolster is provided with a spring seat 26 which bears on the center of spring 23. The ends of the bolster arms are also supported on double coil springs 21, 21 which are seated on webs 28, 2B connecting the inner and outer walls of the wheel pieces. The weight resting on the bolster is thus transferred to the truck frame through three springs on each side, and as these springs have different characteristics their periods of vibration are correspondingly different with the result that severe vertical oscillations are eliminated.

My improved truck is equipped with the usual accessories, such as side bearings 29, brake cylinder 30 and brake hanger lugs 3|. These constitute no feature of my'invention.

From the foregoing it will be seen that I have designed a truck that has extraordinary strength and stability arising out of great simplicity that also contributes to maximum compactness and to relatively inexpensive construction while still retaining riding qualities that are highly satisfactory for the service in which it is used.

It will of course be understood that various changes in details of construction and arrangement of parts may be made by those skilled in the art without departing from the spirit of the invention as set forth in the appended claim.

I claim:

A railway truck comprising, in combination, wheel and axle assemblies, journal boxes on the axles, a truck frame provided with wheel pieces on each side of the truck frame and each wheel piece having a centrally depressed portion formed of two transversely spaced walls, said spaced walls terminating in upwardly extending arched pedestal structures each of which are also formed of two transversely spaced walls constituting continuations of said spaced walls of the wheel pieces, said pedestal walls extending vertically for the full depth of the pedestals and terminating at their upper ends in transversely spaced arched walls which pass over the axles and journal boxes therefor, said arched Walls which pass over the journal boxes being connected at their upper edges by a horizontal spring seat wall, said pedestal structures having pedestal guides on which said journal boxes are vertically slidable during normal operation of the truck, springs interposed between said journal boxes and said horizontal spring seat wall which connects the arched walls overlying the journal boxes, a bolster having longitudinally extending arms terminating in the space between the vertically extending walls of said pedestal structure, said vertically extending walls having between the same at their lower portion adjacent the bottom of the spaced walls of the wheel pieces a horizontal spring seating wall, coil springs positioned between the transversely spaced vertical walls of the pedestals and interposed between said latter horizontal spring seat wall and the remote ends of said longitudinal bolster arms whereby said latter springs are disposed within the pedestal structure, and a longitudinally extending leaf spring supported between the spaced walls of the depressed central portion of the frame wheel pieces and engaging said bolster at its intermediate portion whereby said leaf spring is adapted to carry a substantial load while the coil springs at the ends of the bolster stabilize the bolster to maintain it in a substantially horizontal position, said bolster having engagement with its coiled springs and with said leaf spring substantially in a common horizontal plane.

- ALLEN WALLACE. 

